Knocking on a door
by Pershe
Summary: Knocking on a door. Seems so simple when in reality it terrified Kel, since it was Dom's door.


**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or places**

Knocking on a door. Seems so simple when in reality it terrified Kel. She had faced the kraken, she had led several men in Scanra in a crazy scheme to rescue her refugees. Yet, here she stood in Fort Steadfast at a time where she should be comfortably settled in her bed.

But, it had been so many years that this little secret had been in the back of her mind. Before coming to Steadfast she had realized that she had to do something about it. Simply because it would continue to drive her crazy to not say anything.

However, now that she was here, in front of his door, it seemed like an impossible task. She made herself wake up before dawn to practice she could make herself knock on that door.

Raising her fist she knocked sharply twice. As she waited, she realized it was close to midnight and that she was insane for doing this now. She secretly hoped he hadn't heard her knock, when he opened the door.

Her worry that she had woken him up turned out to be true. A sleep rustled Dom looked at her quizzically. He looked even slightly more handsome with his black hair tousled and his blue eyes rimmed with sleep. He wore a night shirt that outlined his muscular chest and made Kel unsure about what she was about to do.

"Kel" He said quietly "What are you doing here? It's almost midnight"

"Hi Dom" she replied while trying to school her expression and reminding herself that she was stone "There's something I've been meaning to tell you and it's going to be hard for me to say and I feel like if I don't tell you now, I never will"

Dom raised one eyebrow in surprise, in a fashion so similar to his cousin and Kel's best friend, as he said "Just give me one quick second" He quickly closed the door to put on a tunic and some breeches and opened the door again to let her in.

She looked at her surroundings, the bed with the rumpled sheet, the desk with reports strewn across it and the small pile of clothes on the floor. She had never been in his room before.

She quickly sat on the chair as he sat on her bed. He seemed to understand the turmoil going inside her as he waited quietly for her to say what she had come to say.

The whole situation was ridiculous. She was in Dom's room while he patiently waited for her to say something in the middle of the night.

"I've never told anyone this. I've always kept these types of things to myself" she started "mainly because I did not want anyone to think I was being like a court lady" At that he raised an eyebrow again in a mocking manner. She glared at him a little bit and said "I know I'm nowhere near pretty enough to be a court lady, I've been told I am made along the lines of a cow"

"That is not why I was amused" he replied "I just thought that you would never be as petty and shallow as those ladies"

She smiled at him "Well, I do have girly feelings, I do have crushes and hopes of a future with someone and marriage and children"

"That's normal Kel, everyone would like to find someone to be in love with"

"Yes, well while Neal was off writing poetry about Lady Uline, or Daine, or even the Queen, I just quietly crushed from afar, never saying anything. I liked Neal when I was a page and I think you're the only person who knows" she said

"Neal? Really? That would've been an unusual relationship. Oh, I don't think you guys would've worked out, No offense" He said shocked and at the same time highly entertained with the notion.

"Oh, I'm aware of that" Kel replied, trying to keep her face emotionless while she just wanted to glare at him.

He looked at her and schooled in face into a more serious expression "I'm sorry I did not mean to interrupt you"

"Well, I am very well aware that Neal and I would've been a disaster, but I was 13 at the time and he was older and he is handsome. Don't laugh" she said as he smirked. "But my crush for Neal went away over time. It moved to another man"

"Cleon?" he asked.

"No actually. No Cleon came and kissed me, while I was liking this other man" she said with a half-smile "I was 16 or so, having never been kissed nor really looked at by any man, it was a nice change. I started to like him after that, but it soon went away, and my heart and mind strayed to that man from whom Cleon had stolen it"

"A few people mentioned that. That it was more one-sided and that you probably did not know he liked you until he kissed you" he said

"I was so shocked and did not know what to do" she said, remembering fondly. But then she resumed her story "throughout the entire Scanra war, I've gotten to know the man I've been crushing on since my crush on Neal went away and realized that I probably will not be able to get over him the way I got over Cleon and Neal, and I'm worried he doesn't see me that way"

"You should just go and tell him, Kel" he said "It sounds like you really like him, and you never know maybe he'll like you too! And if he doesn't, it won't be fun, but you'll know where you stand and you may be good friends afterwards."

"I know" she said "that's why I'm telling you this, because you are that man"

She looked at him as he understood what she had come to tell him. She saw surprise, bewilderment, shock and consideration. He had given her time to collect herself before the conversation started. And she had spent week deciding she should tell him and mentally preparing herself.

She knew he needed time to think about it. Afterall, it was not everyday that he got love confessions in the middle of the night from one of his closest friend.

"When you knocked on my door, this was not what I expected" he said "and when you started talking about your feelings I thought you needed someone to tell those thing too, because I would never mock you for those."

"I know the feeling" he continued "I've fallen for women in the past and there is that one woman who I can't get out of my heart or head"

With a sense of forbidding, she hung her head as she waited for him to tell her he had fallen for another lady.

"And here I was, in bed, thinking about her, when she came and knocked on my door to let me know she liked me" he finished with a big grin on his face.

"What?" she replied, not expecting this at all.

"From what I gathered, I don't think I've liked you for as long as you liked me, but I started to see you in this light right after you took care of my men and led them against the first Killing Machine"

She looked at him with a look of complete shock. She had come to tell him her feelings, expecting to be rejected. She had felt the need to let him know to be fair to him.

However, when she saw his grin, she smiled shyly at him. It was all he needed to close the distance between them, tilt her chin lightly with his fingers and kiss her.


End file.
